The Fall of Freehold
by TuSuperhero
Summary: An Exo Titan seeks out the truth of his existence and stumbles upon an old geezer, who tells him a story of the golden age. One Shot


Prelude

Mangamune is an Exo Titan of the city. He has seen countless battles, whether fighting for honor against his guardian brethren in the crucible or to banish the looming thread of Atheon in the Vault of Glass. Even the son of Oryx fell under the impact of his fists.

But although he has seen a lot, it feels like he is missing something. He fought for the people, for the renaissance of the golden age - to shape the future of mankind and his allies.

But there are still questions left unanswered. What of the past? How did my species came to be? How can we think of the second golden age when we cannot learn from history - thus are doomed to repeat it?

Mangamune did not know. It's been 116 days since he was found by his ghost under the debris of the Cosmodrom. His circuits don't have any data prior his awakening. Nobody in the tower recognizes him as an individual. He is just another guardian. My roots as an Exo are lost in time.

As he sat on a couch in the designated area for the new monarchy, absorbed in thought and staring at the crackling fire in front of him, he noticed another exo keeping him company from the other side of the fireplace.

"What's with the long face Titan?" he said with an deep voice. "Haven't punched anybody for a long time?".

Funny. I could swear that we exo are the ones with the least facial expressions.

I did not answer him immediately. I remember having a chat with other guardians about him. He was a weird old exo with some loose circuits. Some say that an malfunctioning trainee repair droid had a field day on him or that an very bored Cayde-6 threw a knife at a random direction and just happen to hit the old Exo.

"Let me tell you a story." the old exo brought me out of my thoughts again. "These old weapon of mine haven't been used for a long time -" he said as he stared at his hands "but they clearly remember breaking through armor, shields and flesh."

If Mangamune were a human, he would roll with his eyes. Is this the rambling of older people? He thought only old humans were to do this as he has yet to see an old awoken. Neverless he decided to stay and to listen. Maybe the senile exo would distract him from his thoughts.

"It all began years prior my awakening. You see, the City is a really beautiful place, with all these clashing human and neohuman cultures and that big oversized balloon in the sky, but there has been bigger and technologically more advanced ones in our solar system. Let me tell you how I came to be, about my duty and obligation to protect my home on mars and about..."

The Fall of Freehold

"I wouldn't say everything was happy-go-lucky. Even without the darkness breathing down our necks humanity had internal strife, philosophical rifts- particularly around questions of machine intelligence." A slow chuckle escaped his mouth as he continued with his story. "The Traveler helped humanity to reach it's pinnacle, but were they ready for somebody... or something else to stand next to them?"

I waited for him to continue, only to hear silence. "Hey, don't doze off on me here!" I clicked with my fingers.

"Ah...yeah. I was just reminiscing about it. Nonetheless, there wasn't any time to establish laws back then. It was right at the beginning of the end of the golden age. The mega-cities like Freehold sprawled across mars were swallowed and consumed by dunes and Darkness. Everything changed when ~~the fire nation attacked~~ the legions of cabal attacked humanity on mars. They came in several massive troop ships. Humanity didn't know where the cabals originated from but I think you could follow a trail of shattered worlds all the way to their home."

The old Exo smiled, as if he remembers the sweetest memory he had. "When they first established my consciousness, the people on mars were already in dire need. The tactical prowess of the cabal and their sheer number overwhelmed the military force. Humanity already suffered greatly as some of their greatest warriors fell in battle. Many more would face the cabal knowing that it was a suicide mission but, for fellow mankind and for the greater good of their countrymen and countrywomen, they took that action.

When I was deployed to battle I only knew how to fight. I was one of the first generation Exo - build to be the last stand between the retreating Humanity and the Sand Eaters, Dust Giants and Siege Dancers. A Titan to shatter the enemy line and a Defender to create walls against which the Darkness breaks.

We have been in battle for days end as hordes of Cabal clashed against the few Human and Exo alike. Our once beautiful city was now in ruines. Thousands of their artillery blot out the sun as the descended upon us. We continued to fight in the shade of the Ward of Dawn.

I remember these days, for they will be mine for all time. 'Remember us' my fellow brothers and sisters in arms said.'Remember why we died.' For they did not wish tribute, nor song, nor monuments nor poems of war and valor. Their wish was simple. 'Remember us,' they said to me. That was their hope, should any free light come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, 'Go tell the Titans, passerby, that here by Titan law, we lie.' "

Ending

Mangamune was silent during the whole story. Too many thoughts raced through his circuits. "I did not know what happend after the battle." The old Exo said. "When I woke up everything was silent. My comrades gone. Up in the sky was a hole in Jupiter and it tears at me when I looked at it. It was hungry. Maybe the hole was not in Jupiter but in me." The old man stood up and went past the couch I was sitting on the last half hour. Wait there must be more. Mangamune needed to know more!

But when he turned around he saw nobody. The old Exo was never seen again. Some guardians say that he left the tower or the city altogether. The most people will remember him as the old senile Exo. For Mangamune he is the Spirit of the Freeholder's Memory.


End file.
